Peru: Sustainable farming in the rainforest | Global Ideas

The jungle around Iquitos is home to more species
than almost anywhere else on Earth.

It's a kind of Paradise
but it's under threat.

Just 15 years ago,
giant trees grew near the city.

Now they're floated down the river

from further away because there are none left

here deforestation is on the rise

logging yields valuable timber in which

there's a large illegal trade and

forests are being cleared for large plantations

but smallholder farmers also cut down

trees as they have done for centuries

like here in tres Unidos not far from

Iquitos the farmers clear the land by

hand tree by tree that may burn them

it's a common practice throughout the

region muy Dani para el ambiente

La Mesa it's bad for the environment it

releases large amounts of greenhouse

gases deforestation in the Amazon region

is continuing as its soil erosion

burning timber shortens the nutrient

cycle it kills the macro and the micro fauna

erosion means the rain washes away more

and more soil and the land becomes

useless initially the ash actually makes

the soil more fertile but only for one

season the following year crop yields

generally are smaller the farmers move

on leaving behind fields that are little

more than sand when you see TV reports

about the great biodiversity of plants

in our region you might think the soil

in the Amazon is fertile and good for

farming but only four or five percent of

the land is suited to agriculture that's

why farmers have to burn the biomass to

provide the soil with carbon that crops

need to grow in Atlantis cutting down

trees is not optional for the people

living here it's a key element in their

farming practices at the same time

they're gradually destroying the very

basis of their livelihood we didn't even

have to pour gasoline on it we'd let the

wood dry for three months we only burn

when the wind isn't too strong otherwise

the fire could spread my children and I

keep watch a couple of times the fire

got too close to our house we doused it

with lots of water but when the fire is

further away we just let it burn

everybody around here does it everyone in the air

daughter surfing I see most farmers here

grow pineapple bananas or yucca this

kind of mono culture tends to deplete

the soil here that Paris has farmed this

land the conventional way for five years

now he's learning something new that

Shakuni institute an NGO devoted to

permaculture has started a pilot project

in the region to stop fields being

cleared by burning it introduces what it

calls chakra integral an organic farming

method in which the land is cleared of

weeds and plants are pruned selectively

Aki is someone that we're tapping the

forest here to create a chocolate into

the glass without burning and we've

planted a lot of plant species edible

plants medicinal plants timber and fruit

trees the organization says it's working

with local communities to reactivate

knowledge from pre-columbian times

ancient wisdom that was passed down by

word of mouth within a few families on

how to farm the jungle sustainably and

keep it healthy

let's check lesson came is the

indigenous people don't burn their

fields my mother taught me how to set up

a chakra into class you can see this

farm wasn't burned it has a lot of

organic matter here you can see leaves

and branches that haven't been burned

it's been composted so that the soil

retains its moisture microorganisms and

other tiny creatures setting up a chakra

integral requires a lot of knowledge of

the rainforest plants which ones need

lots of light which ones grow in partial

shade what are their life cycles what

kind of soil do they need and how far

apart should they stand this is cotton

it also has medicinal uses

it's the solicit Rolla the wood is used

in construction my data and yucca you

can eat the roots this is a young banana

plant is that bikini of Bolivia the

chakra integral concept is designed to

provide a wide variety of foods in every

season once it's up and running it lasts

longer than burned fields and produces

more workers and farmers in the area are

being trained so that they can pass on

what they've learned I'm looking forward

to this I know that I will produce more

and plant on the land again and again

I'll be doing it like this here there's

been no burning we harvest some of the

plants and we leave some of them to dry

out and be used as fertilizer the main

thing is that the harvest is better and

it's better for the environment it's a

win-win situation using ancient

agricultural expertise to restore the

power of the jungle.